


I met you in midsummer

by YongNight



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friendship, M/M, Minor Character Death, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-06-18 20:01:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15493599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YongNight/pseuds/YongNight
Summary: Taeyong and Doyoung are two high school students trying to get through life struggles and complicated friendships, all while figuring out the tangled matter of falling in love for the first time.





	1. I met you in midsummer

**Author's Note:**

> Dear readers,
> 
> I’m pretty sure at least five people have been following this story since I first posted, and to you guys, I’m more than thankful and also very sorry.
> 
> New readers, welcome and high five, your good timing spared you … a mess?!
> 
>  
> 
> I started writing this story after a few years of … not being able to write.
> 
> That is partly why I keep deleting my chapters and re-uploading them, I keep noticing a few things I would’ve done differently for the story and can’t stop myself from wanting to give a “perfect version” of my small work.
> 
> I know it must’ve been very annoying, again I’m very sorry. Good news is, it won’t happen again ^^
> 
> I finally have an ending (currently working on it), I re-edited all the previously posted Chapters and decided to change a thing or two, SO   
> To those who read previously posted chapters, I'm sorry but you'll have to re-read it all ... if you're patient enough of course^^ 
> 
>  
> 
> I think I pretty much said it all, if you have any questions, recommendations, critics, please leave them all in the comment section.
> 
> /// I rarely get any feedback, because I rarely post what I write, so please, don't hesitate to give me your opinion, it would help me a lot with future work///

 

Mrs. Kim frowned in concentration while looking at the people down from her window.  

The beach was as expected, very crowded and noisy during this season. 

 She didn’t like it, that is why she decided to not take her usual morning walk. A decision she soon regretted, she couldn’t think, and at the same time, she couldn’t stop thinking. She was scared, although she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. 

It was a week-old conversation with a friend that gave birth to what felt like an electrical storm in her brain. 

Said friend and her have been friends since high school. Back then, they were inseparable, and their friendship was still as strong when they went to college. Although she lost contact with most of her friends after graduation, the bond they share remained intact, even when she decided to follow her husband to the U.S.  

Exactly a week ago, she was telling her friend about how her two sons were doing and voiced her worries about her youngest. He was going to move back to Seoul soon, to finish high school then enroll at a university there.  

Technically there was nothing to worry about, he had planned for it with his parents for months now, but now that his departure date was getting closer, she couldn’t help but feel concerned. 

“I just don’t want him to feel left out in a dorm, all year long by himself” she remembers saying. 

To her surprise, she wasn’t answered with a “you worry too much.” or “he’s going to be fine.", but with an obviously spontaneous “Why don’t you let him stay with us? “ . 

She didn’t even have time to come up with an answer as the voice on the other end was getting more excited, “it’s actually perfect, why didn’t we think about it before? My house is big enough, he would have his own room, and you won’t have to worry about his meals.” 

Now that she thinks about it, it was very weird of her to feel uneasy about a proposition she made herself … in a way, and it was indeed a good idea, in theory.  

Her friend was a lovely, easy to get along with woman, and a caring mother of two herself. She was certain her son would be treated like family. She knew she didn't have much to worry about in the first place, her youngest son was the studious, always focused type, and even if he happened to feel a little more adventurous after moving away from his parents' place at the age of fifteen, it would be safer to have him around a friend she trusted. 

If she was being completely honest with herself, the reason she didn’t talk to her husband and son about that new option was the other fifteen years old her son was going to be living with. 

She didn't know much about the kid herself, except that his name was Taeyong and that according to his mother, faced problems during middle school that led to him having to change schools. 

She never felt the need to ask more questions about it, even when she knew her son was going to be attending the same school as him. But being a classmate and living with someone were two very different things, she didn’t want to impose that on her son, she didn’t want him to feel the need to befriend a boy just because his mother was her friend. 

After sending a final frown to the people having fun at the beach, she decided she was going to tell her son about it tonight …  without giving him her opinion.  

 **Everything is embarrassing:**  

His mother nervously straightened the wrinkles on his shirt for what felt like the hundredth time in ten minutes. He smiled at her, a weak attempt to reassure her, she frowned at him, she always did when she was either focused on something or when she was trying hard to not show any emotion. 

He was nervous too, and excited, but mostly nervous. It was finally happening, if it all goes well, in fourteen hours and thirty minutes he was going to land in Seoul. 

His mother's friend's husband was going to be there to welcome him. He had met the couple once when he was a kid when they came to visit them in Oyster Bay years ago, he doesn’t remember anything from that visit though. 

He had agreed to their offer immediately when his mother told him about it. A spacious room with family friends was obviously more appealing than a dorm room, and in addition to that, the fact that they had a son who was his age and was going to be attending the same school as he made him feel more relaxed. He was going to have a full month to get to know him and if it all goes well and they end up getting along, he won’t be facing the first day at school completely alone.  

 

After many tired hours, full of trying to find sleep but not being able to because of the fighting couple behind him and throwing up countless of times, he finally landed. 

He was now sitting in the passenger seat of Mr. Lee’s car; the windows were down and the cool air was a relief to his aching head. He’s pretty sure he fell asleep as he was making sand castles while watching unicorns eating vanilla ice-cream and as much as he wishes it was the reality, it just couldn’t be. 

The sound of a metal fence opening and closing, followed by Mr. Lee gently shaking his shoulder, slowly pulled him out of his dream. 

“We’re here.” he heard him say, he politely smiled back at Mr. Lee, not knowing what else to say.  

The only information his brain seemed to be able to focus on for the moment was the fact that he was starting to feel uncomfortable in his too-tight jeans and sticky shirt. 

“Gross.” he murmured to himself in disgust. 

He got out of the car and awkwardly stood next to three of his five suitcases, the other two were carried inside by Mr. Lee he assumed. 

He could hear muffled voices coming from the house, it was two stories high. he could see its wooden framed windows that were propped open, a small flower garden had been planted, separating the house from the fence. It was a beautiful house; he could tell it was carefully taken care of and loved. 

He looked back at his suitcases, again not knowing what to do, should he follow Mr. Lee inside? Wait for him to come back? The color of one of his suitcases weirdly reminded him of the unicorns in his dream. 

“it looked delicious, I want unicorn hoof made ice-cream too,” he murmured to himself again while turning his head back to the fence. He yelped in surprise when he ended up making direct eye contact with a pair of deep, dark eyes, he took a few steps back as what turned out to be a skinny boy, certainly, his age was standing only a few feet behind him. 

 He had impeccable smooth dark hair and was dressed in jeans that had so many wide cuts in it the grand majority of his legs was showing, he was also curiously looking at him, “unicorn made ice-cream?”  

 _Oh shit!_  

“Uhm … it was a dream I had hahaha never mind,” he tried to coolly brush it off, trying his best not to show how embarrassed he was, “I’m Doyoung by the way,” he said while stretching a hand to the boy in front of him, an act he immediately regretted as his hands were so sweaty … _why am I like this today?_  

“I’m Taeyong” he said, Doyoung couldn’t fail to notice that unlike him, Taeyong’s hand was very smooth, almost like a baby’s hand.  

They stood there for a moment, looking at each other, Taeyong looked like he was deeply trying to remember something, the look on his face was almost comical when after a few seconds he gasped “right! Suitcases! Doyoung! Front door!” then looked at Doyoung as if he wasn’t there all along and said,” Dad said you probably need help to get everything inside, I can also show you around after lunch if you’re not too tired?”  

“Sure,”  

He then followed Taeyong through the flower garden after carefully closing the fence behind them. The house was welcoming, from the open door to the wide, bright hallway. The floor was a vintage light brown parquet and the walls were all white meeting an equally white baseboard. 

There was a grand space between the  _foyer_  and the living room, the later was occupied by a huge mahogany table, on the walls were shiny mirrors. 

“Welcome,” it was Mrs. Lee who spoke, flashing a bright smile. 

Doyoung took a deep breath and smiled back, he made the right decision, moving in with this family was obviously the right decision. 

***

Doyoung woke up hours after eating lunch, cleaning up and a little unpacking, he felt a little confused when the room he opened his eyes to was unfamiliar. He checked his phone, it was 05:00 pm which meant it was still too early to call his parents. He eventually decided to unpack some more but that task ended too fast. 

 

He got out of his room, maybe he could go out and walk around the neighborhood. He ended up bumping into Taeyong on his way out. 

“Where are you going?” He asked before he could stop himself, Taeyong raised an eyebrow in his direction and cocked his head to the side, his eyes shifting from the door to Doyoung. Rude Doyoung thought why the hell did I ask him that, rude! "Just wandering around." Taeyong answered, then added after a moment of hesitation, “wanna tag along?”  

“Yeah,” Doyoung quickly said, as if the offer was going to get canceled if he didn’t answer in three seconds. _what the fuck is wrong with me_? He turned his attention to his shoelaces to avoid any eye contact. 

 They ended up walking around the neighborhood for the next three and a half hours. To Doyoung’s surprise, they got along pretty fast, faster than he thought it would take at least. 

Taeyong was fun, he wasn’t talking a lot first, just asking Doyoung all kinds of questions but after their ice-cream break at a nearby supermarket, they both discovered they had a hobby in common, music. 

They both liked the same bands and ended up talking about music for a very long time, arguing about which song was better than which and why, talking about their favorite members, concert memories. 

Doyoung was too caught up in their conversation that he didn't notice they were taking a strange turn that was leading to what seemed like a forest.  After only walking a short distance, the small houses, gardens, and supermarkets where replaced by long, aethereal trees. 

“We’re not lost right?” he nervously asked Taeyong. 

“No, I come here all the time with my dog, the trees might look impressive and overwhelming, but this is not a real forest, there’s a lake a few miles from here, after it, there’s another town.”  

“That’s a very interesting hangout place,” he commented, Taeyong smiled at him but didn’t answer.  

Their way back home turned out to be a whole adventure, they couldn’t find their path and walked in circles for what seemed like forever, then it started raining. Doyoung almost screamed in joy when he saw a bike and glimpse of a street.  

“oof, I thought we were never going to find our way out.” Doyoung looked at Taeyong in surprise, “ 

 “I thought you came here all the time with your dog.” 

Taeyong was trying to shake his hair dry, completely useless thought Doyoung as it was still very much raining. 

“I usually just follow her”  

“Who?” 

“The dog of course.”  

He can’t tell what exactly started it, maybe he was still tired, maybe jetlag was getting to him, maybe it was Taeyong’s answer or maybe the rain, he really can’t tell what started it, but after exactly one second of silence, they both looked at each and suddenly their bodies were shaken by unrestrained, blissful laughs. 

It’s funny, Doyoung thought, how a day ago, they were nothing but strangers to each other, well not really, they knew of each other but only by name, hell he was even worried about not being able to get along with Taeyong, and now they were laughing about nothing as if they were childhood friends sharing some kind of secret joke. 


	2. Bus playlists

_ This wasn’t home. _

 Not that he wanted it to feel like home, but he felt too much like a stranger to everything today.  I t was weird. He wouldn’t be able to explain it in words even if he tried,  he felt  foreign in his own body, as if he was watching an episode of his life instead of living it.

A skinny, tall boy in his uniform,  sitting on the concrete steps at the front of the school, staring at the endless row of yellow buses. He wondered why today was hard, it’s not like something happened in particular that could explain his bad mood, yet everything felt gray today. Maybe because winter was here and that he couldn’t take his bike to school anymore, maybe he hated taking the bus that much, maybe it was because  Taeyong  was absent again .  He sadly sighed knowing he had to get off the floor now if he didn' want to be late for the first period. 

School started exactly two months and two weeks ago. 

He doesn’t necessarily love school, but he loves learning, he loves homework and teachers and history surprise quizzes, on the other hand, he hated his classmates. He didn’t have a reason to at first; they weren’t particularly nice to him, but he wasn’t either ,  so he wasn’t concerned about it. When  Taeyong  was around though, it was a  complete ly  different story. They were still not being mean to him; they just ignored his existence, he wished they did the same to  Taeyong . 

Doyoung knew they all knew each other, the majority of them were middle school classmates. He also knew the  _ jokes _  they were constantly repeating when  Taeyong  was around weren’t new, at least not to  Taeyong's ears . He would always look at  Doyoung  when it happened as if he was waiting for him to make a comment about it. 

Doyoung  never did, not when it happened, not when they were in the bus on their way  back  and definitely not when they were home. 

He also noticed how  Taeyong’s  mood drastically changed when they were at school. 

To him, it felt like he was dealing with two different  Taeyongs , the school hours  Taeyong  wouldn’t open his mouth to say anything unless someone asked him a direct question, he was always looking down, avoiding any eye contact. Not at school  Taeyong  was the one he met when he first got here, needless to say, he preferred that  Taeyong  more . H e always had a reason to laugh, he loved dancing with his dogs while folding laundry, he took a habit of waking  Doyoung  up in the middle of the night whispering that they were going on an adventure, he loved the fact that  Taeyong’s  ideal adventure was eating ice-cream on the rooftop of his house. 

He hated the fact that  Taeyong  hated school so much that he started skipping classes but at the same time, he didn’t know what to do about it without hurting him more by making the wrong comment of asking the wrong questions.

It thankfully got a little better when Yuta entered their lives.

Yuta didn’t mean anything to him at first, he didn’t like him but didn’t hate him either, and besides, even if he did actually not like Yuta, he would’ve never said a word about it because   Taeyong  was skipping fewer classes since he showed up.

Yuta and  Taeyong  met during their history class, the only class  Taeyong  and  Doyoung  were not taking together  because  Doyoung was in a sort of advanced history program.

It  was when Yuta started eating lunch with them every day that he decided, he was not so bad after all. Unlike Doyoung, Yuta  loved going out and would always drag  Taeyong  and  Doyoung  with him, at first  Doyoung  thought that was because he didn’t have friends which would've  been  understandable as Yuta switched schools  three  weeks after it started ... there were all kinds of rumors circulating about that, they were all also very stupid in  Doyoung’s  opinion. 

He was wrong thinking that he didn’t have friends. Yuta’s friends were as fun and crazy as Yuta’s blonde highlights , and they all loved going out too, it was a pity they didn’t go to their school  Doyoung thought .

They were  introduced to Ten first, “the weird one “he had said, then to Taeil and  Johnny, they were both older than all of  them, college students, and also Yuta and Ten’s roommates. Both  Taeyong  and  Doyoung  loved their place and felt welcomed in their small circle, so welcomed they spent mo st  of their weekends at the rooftop apartment, hanging out, doing homework, playing video games  … mostly playing video games.

Taeyong  never skipped a weekend there, not even when he started skipping school because _he was sick_. His too frequent morning stomach aches were obviously fake,  Doyoung  knew that.  H e was sure that  Taeyong’s  mom knew  too, he also  didn’t know how to feel about her knowing something was off but never doing anything about it. 

Taeyong  was probably sleeping he thought. Yuta was probably smart-faking during his classes because he was sure the teachers would just think his weird answers to their questions were “ _ extremely intelligent” or “ _ _ futurist”   _ instead  of just answers that showed he was a student who never bothered to open his books. Today was Thursday so Johnny was probably working at this hour,  Taeil  never picked morning classes, so he was probably sleeping too and Ten …  well,  god knows what he was up to?   Ten skipped a lot of classes too but always got away with it somehow.

That’s how  Doyoung  spent the grand majority of his day, trying to focus on the words that were coming out if his teachers’ mouths and wondering what were his friends doing.

He pulled his phone  as soon as he sat on _their_ usual spot in the middle of the bus , feeling bad for being a little happy that  Taeyong  was actually not completely indifferent to  Doyoung’s  feeling as he made for each skipped day, exactly 25 minutes long Spotify playlists to make sure he won’t feel too lonely.  He closed his eyes as the first song started playing. 

-

No-one was home but  Taeyong  when he arrived . 

He couldn’t help but smile when he saw him.

He looked ridiculous. It was raining outside,  Taeyong  was standing in the middle of the back yard, wearing nothing but a pair of very short black shorts with a white tank top and yellow heart-shaped sunglasses, he was also holding an umbrella,  _ thank god  _ Doyoung  thought .

He looked ridiculous … so ridiculous  Doyoung  felt the sudden need to run to him and sweep him up in his arms.

He tried to brush off that  _ need  _ and proceeded to open the glass door, “what are you doing?” 

“waiting for you”  Taeyong  took off his glasses and smiled at him.  He loved when  Taeyong  smiled like that, like happiness was coming from deep inside him to light his whole face,  _ beautiful. _

_ “ _ Are you coming tomorrow?” he hated himself for asking, he really didn’t want to push  Taeyong  into going if he wasn’t ready, but at the same time, days were getting so  so  long without him around.

His smile faded noticeably when he answered, “yeah” “I don’t think I have a choice; mom got a letter from the school, I might actually get kicked out if I skip another day this semester.” 

Doyoung  hated himself for feeling relieved.

“That’s great” 

Taeyong  frowned at him, “If I tell you that I’m really  really  behind on most my classes and that you have no choice but to help me, are you still  gonna  think it’s great?” 

“Totally” 

He closed his umbrella and walked to him, only stopping when their faces were inches away from each other  “I  meant really  really reaaally  behind.” 

Doyoung  put both his hands on  Taeyong’s  shoulders “Then I think it’s best to start working right away.” 

“I think we deserve at least a chocolate muffin if we’re going to be working all afternoon,” he said while pushing him back inside the  living-room .

God, even his smirky smile was beautiful.

* * *

 

 

** ~Taeyong's 25 minutes long Bus Playlist~ **

 

** Heroes - David Bowie  **

** I know a place - MUNA **

** Lucky escape - Years & Years  **

** Past love - Kimbra  **

** Gloe - Kiiara **

** Ivory - MOVEMENT  **

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back ^^  
> don't feel shy to tell me your thoughts about this fic so far ^^ (If anyone has any advice about fic-writing, I'm always open to input.)
> 
> Curious Cat: https://curiouscat.me/TAEBISS  
> Feel free to hit me up! I LOVE talking to EVERYONE


	3. something to talk about

** Yuta :  **

He was late.

He was so late,  Doyoung  was going to kill him, he said he would, exactly a minute ago, he texted him  _ “Yuta, I’m going throttle you.” _  He breathed heavily when he finally arrived at the coffee shop doors, after spending what seemed like forever trying to find a parking spot that wasn't directly under the sunlight.

He could see  Doyoung  sitting in their usual booth, looking angrily at his phone ... At least  Taeyong was  not here yet.

He crashed on the  seat  next to  Doyoung , still trying to catch his breath,

“N o more 08:00 am meetings” he managed to breathe out.

Doyoung  spared one look in his direction … one angry look, then went back to typing.

He put his bag down on the seat beside him, then put his head on the table, maybe he’ll take a power nap before  Taeyong  gets here. Knowing  Taeyong  he was probably still sleeping.

 “imagine putting reading comics for a whole night before your and your friends' very important project?”

… no power nap then.

“Look  Doyoung , we have the whole day, fuck, we have the whole year, stop being dramatic,” a waiter came and dropped the menu on their table, he looked very bored, who would blame him? It was 08:15 am on a Wednesday and it was summer vacation. 

“and it’s your project you forced us to be in” he added before  Doyoung  could answer.

He pouted at him “we can’t be less than three people by project, and you’re getting extra points” 

Yuta grabbed the menu and started scanning it, an action that was pointless because he knew he would be getting his usual order. 

“we’ll get the extra points if our project wins dons” 

“My project will win , ” his friend answered with certitude. 

Yuta was sure  Doyoung  would get the extra points, he didn’t tell him that though. 

Doyoung  was the most hardworking person he knew, he had excellent grades in everything, he was their class pres ,  and he was always acing all school-related projects.

He would’ve hated  Doyoung  if he wasn’t his  best friend . 

Not that he hated smart kids, he just hated school and people from school in general.

 

He remembers his first day there, exactly a year ago. They were all looking at him weirdly.  _ They know _ , he thought he was going to be sick. 

The teachers knew that was certain, but he was sure there was some kind of law that would stop them from sharing what they knew about him with the whole school.

Ok, maybe he was over-reacting, they can’t possibly all  know?  but then why the hell are they all looking at him like that?

“It’s because of your hair” 

The answer came from right behind him, he looked at the person who spoke in horror, waiting for him to continue.

“You’re wondering why they’re all looking, right? Well, it’s because of your hair, we can’t have dyed hair, it’s against school policy.” 

He absently ran his hand through his freshly dyed red hair, “huh, is that so” he answered the guy who was still curiously looking at him, without much care.

 He was over-reacting, no-one knew.

It’s not like he cared … well that was a lie, he did care, but not about what they were all going to think of him but more because he really didn’t want to make the same mistakes again, he just wanted them to all ignore him.

Ignoring him was apparently not what the guy  _ still standing near him _  was going to do.

“Can I help you?” he tried to sound as cold as he could, he immediately regretted when he saw the boy taking a step back.

“You … you’re standing in front of my locker” 

“Oh, sorry”  _ well fuck!  _

He stepped away from the locker and proceeded to search for his schedule in his bag, first class, History, great.

He started walking towards the classroom, room number 4 0 7 when he noticed the guy from earlier was walking in the same direction.

Ok, why not be nice for once? New school, new me?  he almost laughed at his own thoughts, but still decided to _  be nice. _

_ “ _ H i ,” he tried

The guy looked at him with caution, “Hi” 

“Sorry about earlier, I’m new here and it’s all kind a  … overwhelming”  _ that was a lie. “ _ I’m Yuta by the way,” he says giving out his hand.

The boy stops walking but stays silent for a moment. Yuta keeps his hand awkwardly outstre t ched between them ... the moment he is about to bring his hand back, the boy places his hand in his .

“I’m  Taeyong ” 

He gives him the most reassuring smile he can pull hoping it doesn’t come out too scary “well, nice to meet you Taeyong” 

 

*******

 

Yuta remembers exactly the day they met; he can’t remember why they decided to talk to each other after that though. 

Taeyong  was shy, awkward and didn’t have a lot of friends  (except for  Doyoung ,  Doyoung who he thought was a pain in the ass  _ he still thinks he is, _  but that’s probably why  it didn't take them more than three lunches to decide they liked each other ),  Yuta didn’t want new friends , but now, a year and a summer later, he can’t imagine his life without his  _ two favorite morons. _

He had no trouble introducing them to Johnny, Ten and  Taeil .  Everything seemed easier with them . 

Ever since he was  _ forced  _ to change schools, he had that feeling he couldn’t really shake off like someone was pushing him underwater, he felt disconnected from everything, like he couldn’t hear, see or feel anything properly anymore.

He still feels it sometimes, less intense, but it comes back to him when he can’t fall asleep.

It was last year when he first became conscious of his mental health issues. Johnny would say it started long before that. He is probably right but his own awareness began when he  got  injured.

His injury was the beginning of the end.

Sport was a massive part of his life. the soccer field was where he could release his competitiveness, his aggression, and energy, his anger.

Losing that broke him … 

The reason for his constant anger taking away from him everything sports was, is  probably  why he didn’t think twice before doing what he did.

The main problem with his stepfather wasn’t just the fact that he was always angry, always complaining because the music Yuta was playing (in his  room) was  too loud, or because the windows were open, or because Yuta’s hair looked  _ hideous. _

Yuta could handle his complains with a closed mouth, although it was hard sometimes, but for his mother and  _ half- _ brother and sister’s sake, he could shut it. 

The problem was that his stepfather was everywhere ... literally. 

As if it wasn’t enough of a pain to deal with him at home, God made him the principal of his school, that meant perfect knowledge of his schedule, his grades, and just everything.

 The day it really went crazy was ironically a very beautiful day. It was sunny, his mom was watching tv while brushing his sister’s hair, he was playing  _ their _  version of scrabbles with his brother. They were not doing anything super, but they were having a good time, enjoying each other's company. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a tiny little while before his stepfather showed up, looking angry and disgusting like always.

Yuta’s stepfather wasn’t ugly, that made him even more disgusting in Yuta’s opinion. He looked nice, smart and always put together, he was friendly with everyone, his neighbors loved him, he was respected by literally everyone they knew. Their relatives were always complimenting him, they were always telling his mom how envious they were of her luck. 

That’s basically why he didn’t talk to anyone about how their perfect little family wasn’t oh so perfect.

He did tell Johnny, Ten and  Taeil , his friends that were like his brothers. 

His friends were the _  -argument of the day- ‘s  _ main topic that day. His stepfather started talking to his wife –while completely ignoring Yuta’s presence- about how he thought Ten was a bad influence, and how he didn’t think Yuta should hang out with him, his arguments were really stupid. Basically, he thought Ten was weird, impolite and a brat and that his parents were irresponsible for letting him live with two college students. 

His mom was nodding in agreement to everything he was saying, he really hated when his mom took his side, he hated how she wasn’t even being a hypocrite about it just to avoid problems, she truly agreed with her husband and thought he was always acting in Yuta’s best interest.

Yuta decided to shut up … like always. As much as he wanted to yell in his face, as much as he wanted to tell them both that they knew nothing about Ten, and how much Ten would laugh if he heard them talking because he didn’t give a shit. He really wanted to defend his friend but he just couldn’t.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he tried to go to his room as quietly as possible. He was almost out of the living-room when his stepfather talked directly to him (he rarely did that, he loved complaining about Yuta but didn’t like  _ directly _  arguing with him).

If Yuta had known how it would end, he would’ve just swallowed it all, all the insults, he would’ve agreed to everything he was saying, just like his mom was doing. 

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t, he got angrier and angrier, he was yelling in his stepfather’s face and felt so satisfied watching how his face was getting red with anger, so he didn't stop. 

His stepdad started yelling too, but Yuta couldn’t hear him, he couldn’t hear anything but his own voice screaming everything he kept in. 

He should’ve been more attentive, he should’ve stopped, but at that moment he was possessed by anger, he didn’t notice his stepfather literally  _ losing it,  _ he didn’t notice the horror in his mother’s eyes when he grabbed whatever he had grabbed, Yuta couldn’t even remember what it was, the only thing he could remember was the blinding pain he felt in his knee.

When he was hospitalized, He dreamed about having a remote control that would put his stepfather's voice on mute. 

Except for Johnny,  Taeil,  and Ten, everyone thought he had a bad fall. That’s what his stepfather had told his soccer coach, he also made sure to tell everyone how  _ unfortunate it was because Yuta had so much potential. _

Yuta was sure all he needed was something to take his mind off things. Something that would make him forget about the pain he felt in his knee every time he moved too fast, and most importantly, something to that would make  him forget his mother straight up told him she was disappointed in him, that she couldn't believe he yelled and disrespected the man who was doing nothing but trying to be a good father for him.

He couldn't tell if she truly believed what she was saying.

He couldn’t find anything, no distraction, and no answers so sleep was his only relief for a long while. 

Johnny tried to take him to counselling but he knew for sure that wouldn’t work unless he was completely honest and honesty included talking about his stepfather and how he took the only thing that was keeping him from killing him. 

 

He didn’t kill his stepfather, he almost did, but he didn’t.

 

Everything happened so fast, one minute he was daydreaming about his imaginary remote that could mute his stupid voice, then he was punching all his anger in his stepfather’s face. 

The problem was that he wasn’t just his asshole of a stepfather when he punched him, he was also the principal, and Yuta was a student. 

Needless to say, he got kicked out, not only from school but from his house too. No-one really kicked him out of his house, but the moment he was expelled he ran home, got his stuff and ended up half an hour later in front of Johnny’s door.

A lot has changed since. He transferred to another school; he joined a soccer club that sucked, but that was okay because he sucked too now. He was sharing an apartment with his friends and he had made two new ones. 

***

 

 It was  Taeyong’s  very dramatic arrival that pulled him out of his thoughts.

They didn’t start talking about their project for another forty-five minutes because  Doyoung  and  Taeyong  kept arguing about how early it was (for Taeyong) and how they were running out of time and they were going to win nothing if they didn’t start working on ideas now (Doyoung). 

After all the arguing, the three of them decided today was just not the day for  _ project ideas,  _ and ended up eating their breakfast while doing some more loud arguing, but this time about the ending of a comic they were reading. The same waiter that looked even more bored and annoyed came back to their table to tell them they were being too loud and that they should leave if they were done eating.

 

***

They were done laughing and telling Johnny who was on his way to his part-time job, about how they got kicked out of the diner and how Yuta thought it was rude and unprofessional and had driven back there although they were almost at his place, he stopped at the drive-thru, asked for the waiter ( Doyoung  and  Taeyong  were both cry-laughing in the backseat and shocked that he memorized his name), when the guy showed up to the window, looking as bored and annoyed as ever, Yuta didn’t even say anything he just flipped him the finger then left.

Now, they were all three sitting on the floor, watching criminal minds because they have nothing better to do.  Doyoung  did try to bring up the project again, but  Taeyong  was already falling asleep and Yuta straight up told him, he had no good ideas and wasn’t planning on using his brain for the next thirty-six hours.

Doyoung  finds himself trying to force his brain to think about the project, not because criminal minds sucked, and not because he was that worried about the project (they did have a whole school year to make it happen) but because as  Taeyong  was getting more and more tired he starting  progressively   leaning on  Doyoung  until his head was resting on his lap. 

He tries his best to ignore how his heart is beating too fast, how his hands are suddenly sweating and tries even harder to avoid the stupid looks Yuta is giving him.

He was losing his mind, he knew he was because ever since the summer break started, his brain and body were getting out of control.

It's not like  Taeyong’s _ way of being  _ around him changed or anything. He was still as fun, smiley and clingy. He was Taeyong.

Doyoung, on the other hand,  found himself reacting differently to his smiles and his spontaneous touches.  he often caught himself staring a little too long at  Taeyong  doing … anything, he couldn’t ignore the way his face was always heating up a little when  Taeyong  smiled at him or held his hand,   He kept telling himself it was  nothing unusual,  but that was hard to do when you had Yuta as a friend.

Yuta was very observant; it didn’t take him long to notice how awkward  Doyoung’s  reactions were becoming. He didn’t say anything about it, thankfully, it was one thing to deal with Yuta smiling at him the  _ “I know what’s going on” _  smile, but  Doyoung  couldn’t deal with talking about it, putting  _ it _  in words would drive him crazy.

Not talking about it didn’t mean he wasn’t constantly thinking about it though.

 

He was slowly but surely falling in love with his best friend and there was nothing he could do to stop it.


End file.
